Spinal fusion is indicated to provide stabilization of the spinal column for painful spinal motion and disorders such as structural deformity, traumatic instability, degenerative instability, and post-resection iatrogenic instability. Fusion, or arthrodesis, is achieved by the formation of an osseous bridge between adjacent motion segments. This can be accomplished within the disc space, anteriorly between contiguous vertebral bodies or posteriorly between consecutive transverse processes, laminae or other posterior aspects of the vertebrae.
An osseous bridge, or fusion mass, is biologically produced by the body upon skeletal injury. This normal bone healing response is used by surgeons to induce fusion across abnormal spinal segments by recreating spinal injury conditions along the fusion site and then allowing the bone to heal. A successful fusion requires the presence of osteogenic or osteopotential cells, adequate blood supply, sufficient inflammatory response, and appropriate preparation of local bone. This biological environment is typically provided in a surgical setting by decortication, or removal of the outer, cortical bone to expose the vascular, cancellous bone, and the deposition of an adequate quantity of high quality graft material.
A fusion or arthrodesis procedure is often performed to treat an anomoly involving an intervertebral disc. Intervertebral discs, located between the endplates of adjacent vertebrae, stabilize the spine, distribute forces between vertebrae and cushion vertebral bodies. A normal intervertebral disc includes a semi-gelatinous component, the nucleus pulposus, which is surrounded and confined by an outer, fibrous ring called the annulus fibrosis. In a healthy, undamaged spine, the annulus fibrosis prevents the nucleus pulposus from protruding outside the disc space.
Spinal discs may be displaced or damaged due to trauma, disease or aging. Disruption of the annulus fibrosis allows the nucleus pulposus to protrude into the vertebral canal, a condition commonly referred to as a herniated or ruptured disc. The extruded nucleus pulposus may press on the spinal nerve, which may result in nerve damage, pain, numbness, muscle weakness and paralysis. Intervertebral discs may also deteriorate due to the normal aging process or disease. As a disc dehydrates and hardens, the disc space height will be reduced leading to instability of the spine, decreased mobility and pain.
Sometimes the only relief from the symptoms of these conditions is a discectomy, or surgical removal of a portion or all of an intervertebral disc followed by fusion of the adjacent vertebrae. The removal of the damaged or unhealthy disc will allow the disc space to collapse. Collapse of the disc space can cause instability of the spine, abnormal joint mechanics, premature development of arthritis or nerve damage, in addition to severe pain. Pain relief via discectomy and arthrodesis requires preservation of the disc space and eventual fusion of the affected motion segments.
Bone grafts are often used to fill the intervertebral space to prevent disc space collapse and promote fusion of the adjacent vertebrae across the disc space. In early techniques, bone material was simply disposed between the adjacent vertebrae, typically at the posterior aspect of the vertebrae, and the spinal column was stabilized by way of a plate or rod spanning the affected vertebrae. Once fusion occurred the hardware used to maintain the stability of the segment became superfluous and was a permanent foreign body. Moreover, the surgical procedures necessary to implant a rod or plate to stabilize the level during fusion were frequently lengthy and involved.
It was therefore determined that a more optimal solution to the stabilization of an excised disc space is to fuse the vertebrae between their respective end plates, preferably without the need for anterior or posterior plating. There have been an extensive number of attempts to develop an acceptable intra-discal implant that could be used to replace a damaged disc and maintain the stability of the disc interspace between the adjacent vertebrae, at least until complete arthrodesis is achieved. To be successful the implant must provide temporary support and allow bone ingrowth. Success of the discectomy and fusion procedure requires the development of a contiguous growth of bone to create a solid mass-because the implant may not withstand the cyclic compressive spinal loads for the life of the patient.
Many attempts to restore the intervertebral disc space after removal of the disc have relied on metal devices. U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,915 to Brantigan teaches a solid metal plug. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,044,104; 5,026,373 and 4,961,740 to Ray; 5,015,247 to Michelson and U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,305 to Harms et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,402 to Bohler et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,327 to Brantigan teach hollow metal cage structures. Unfortunately, due to the stiffness of the material, some metal implants may stress shield the bone graft, increasing the time required for fusion or causing the bone graft to resorb inside the cage. Subsidence, or sinking of the device into bone, may also occur when metal implants are implanted between vertebrae if fusion is delayed. Metal devices are also foreign bodies which can never be fully incorporated into the fusion mass.
Various bone grafts and bone graft substitutes have also been used to promote osteogenesis and to avoid the disadvantages of metal implants. Autograft is often preferred because it is osteoinductive. Both allograft and autograft are biological materials which are replaced over time with the patient's own bone, via the process of creeping substitution. Over time a bone graft virtually disappears unlike a metal implant which persists long after its useful life. Stress shielding is avoided because bone grafts have a similar modulus of elasticity as the surrounding bone. Commonly used implant materials have stiffness values far in excess of both cortical and cancellous bone. Titanium alloy has a stiffness value of 114 Gpa and 316L stainless steel has a stiffness of 193 Gpa. Cortical bone, on the other hand, has a stiffness value of about 17 Gpa. Moreover, bone as an implant also allows excellent postoperative imaging because it does not cause scattering like metallic implants on CT or MRI imaging.
Various implants have been constructed from bone or graft substitute materials to fill the intervertebral space after the removal of the disc. For example, the Cloward dowel is a circular graft made by drilling an allogenic or autogenic plug from the illium. Cloward dowels are bicortical, having porous cancellous bone between two cortical surfaces. Such dowels have relatively poor biomechanical properties, in particular a low compressive strength. Therefore, the Cloward dowel is not suitable as an intervertebral spacer without internal fixation due to the risk of collapsing prior to fusion under the intense cyclic loads of the spine.
Bone dowels having greater biomechanical properties have been produced and marketed by the University of Florida Tissue Bank, Inc., 1 Progress Boulevard, P.O. Box 31, S. Wing, Alachua, Fla. 32615. Unicortical dowels from allogenic femoral or tibial condyles are available. The University of Florida has also developed a diaphysial cortical dowel having superior mechanical properties. This dowel also provides the further advantage of having a naturally preformed cavity formed by the existing medullary canal of the donor long bone. The cavity can be packed with osteogenic materials such as bone or bioceramic.
Unfortunately, the use of bone grafts presents several disadvantages. Autograft is available in only limited quantities. The additional surgery also increases the risk of infection and blood loss and may reduce structural integrity at the donor site. Furthermore, some patients complain that the graft harvesting surgery causes more short-term and long-term pain than the fusion surgery.
Allograft material, which is obtained from donors of the same species, is more readily obtained. However, allogenic bone does not have the osteoinductive potential of autogenous bone and therefore may provide only temporary support. The slow rate of fusion using allografted bone can lead to collapse of the disc space before fusion is accomplished.
Both allograft and autograft present additional difficulties. Graft alone may not provide the stability required to withstand spinal loads. Internal fixation can address this problem but presents its own disadvantages such as the need for more complex surgery as well as the disadvantages of metal fixation devices. Also, the surgeon is often required to repeatedly trim the graft material to obtain the correct size to fill and stabilize the disc space. This trial and error approach increases the length of time required for surgery. Furthermore, the graft material usually has a smooth surface which does not provide a good friction fit between the adjacent vertebrae. Slippage of the graft may case neural and vascular injury, as well as collapse of the disc space. Even where slippage does not occur, micromotion at the graft/fusion-site interface may disrupt the healing process that is required for fusion.
Several attempts have been made to develop a bone graft substitute which avoids the disadvantages of metal implants and bone grafts while capturing advantages of both. For example Unilab, Inc. markets various spinal implants composed of hydroxyapatite and bovine collagen. In each case developing an implant having the biomechanical properties of metal and the biological properties of bone without the disadvantages of either has been extremely difficult or impossible.
A need has remained for fusion spacers which stimulate bone ingrowth and avoid the disadvantages of metal implants yet provide sufficient strength to support the vertebral column until the adjacent vertebrae are fused.